Rohullah Nikpai, two-time Olympic bronze medalist, defeated Pakistani Naveed Khan via a technical knockout to win a gold medal in Taekwondo today in the Under 68 kg category at the 2016 South Asian Games, currently being held in India. Also, Mohsen Rezaei defeated India’s Abrar Khan to win a gold medal in Taekwondo in the Under 54 kg category.

Mohsen Rezaei (left) and Rohullah Nikpai (right)

This puts the total Afghan medal count at 18 (3 gold, 4 silver and 11 bronze). So far, all the gold medals have been in martial arts, 2 in Taekowndo and 1 in Wushu. Khairullah Lalzad won the gold medal for Afghanistan in Wushu at the 75kg category on February 10th.

This year’s South Asian Games began on February 6 and it will finish on February 16th. A total of 8 countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) are participating in 23 sports in the South Asian Games.